Microsoft (yes, Microsoft!) ups the container ante

Ben Kepes |
Aug. 20, 2015

Oh how the worm has turned, and today sees Microsoft roll out container-friendly technologies.

Alongside WIndows Server Containers, Microsoft is also supporting broader container plays — containers are supported as first-class citizens on Azure, and Microsoft is contributing to the development of Docker Engine for Windows Server. This extension to the engine will allow the Docker client to manage multicontainer applications using both Linux and Windows containers, regardless of the hosting environment or cloud provider.

All of this is important when we consider the vast breadth of the existing Microsoft franchise within enterprise development. Many people propose that containers herald the future of enterprise IT, but for existing enterprises with sunk costs and legacy applications, this promise of adopting containers along consistent approaches and platforms as their existing applications (which are, after all, often based around Microsoft technologies) is hugely compelling.

The Microsoft haters will look scornfully at this as an old, evil, proprietary empire trying to retain ownership over its kingdom, but more pragmatic souls would see it for what it is: a company in transition to being a more open and honest (and, yes, still commercially focused) player.